Tallahassee, FL — The Florida State men’s cross country team and the women’s golf team were notified by NCAA President Mark Emmert that they have been recognized with an NCAA Public Recognition Award. The honor is bestowed on teams with an NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports.

“Thank you for your leadership and support of the academic reform efforts,” said Emmert in an NCAA release. “These teams represent intercollegiate athletics at its best. Once again, I congratulate you, the head coach, team, student-athletes, athletics department and institution for the outstanding academic achievements of these teams.”

Coach Bob Braman’s Florida State men’s cross country team has excelled on the course as well as in the classroom. In 2010, the Seminoles won their first Atlantic Coast Conference championship and followed with a program-best, runner-up finish at the NCAA Championship meet. The Seminoles have qualified for nine consecutive NCAA Championships – which is the seventh-longest active streak nationally – won three NCAA South Region titles and finished no worse than third each of the last nine years and placed third or better at the ACC Championships eight times in the last 10 years.

FSU has produced two of the last three ACC Scholar-Athletes of the Year and earned USTFCCCA All-Academic team honors each of the last two years. The program has also won Florida State’s Golden Torch Award as the top men’s academic team on campus each of the last two years, as well.

“I’m extremely proud of those young men who put their priorities in the right place,” said FSU Men’s Cross Country Coach Bob Braman. “They understand that athletics doesn’t define who you are and it’s only part of who you are. These guys get it. They understand that they’re going to be doing something else with their lives after they graduate.

“The reason they’re in it is to get a top-notch education and be on one of the best collegiate programs in the country. That’s why they are at Florida State University.”

The Seminole women’s golf team has enjoyed a long tradition of academic success. A total of nine different student-athletes have been named to the ACC Academic Team a total of 16 times since 2006 and three different players have earned CoSIDA Academic All-District team honors during that same time period. Since 2006, 20 different members of the women’s golf team have been named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll a total of 40 times.

In 2008, Whitney Brummett, who led the Seminoles to three appearances in the NCAA Tournament, earned an ACC Postgraduate Scholarship and utilized that opportunity to attend and graduate with honors from the Florida State University College of Law.

“As coaches, it is our top priority for our student-athletes to have a meaningful academic experience and graduate from Florida State University,” said head coach Amy Bond. “Our student-athletes accept a very demanding academic load when they become students at FSU. They are all expected to perform at the highest levels in both the classroom and on the golf course throughout their careers with their ultimate goal to become graduates of Florida State.”